Top 10 Dow Dividend Stocks for December

Want some reliable income? Try one of these blue-chip companies

#9: Johnson & Johnson

Current Dividend Yield: 3.45%Performance So Far in 2012: +8%

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) hasn’t really done much for investors looking for growth over the long-term. In fact, shares are up just 9% from this point three years ago — roughly the amount JNJ has improved this year.

However, Johnson & Johnson is about as dependable a dividend payer as they come. JNJ has tacked a little extra onto its quarterly payouts each and every year for the past 50 years, and has grown dividends by more than 12% annually for the past decade. That includes a June boost from 57 cents to 61 cents quarterly, good for a 3.4%-plus yield on today’s prices. So when we say JNJ is a Dependable Dividend Stock, we mean it.

JNJ also has continued to beat the mark on earnings, with its past couple of reports putting a real jolt into shares.

The company has racked up a few victories in its pharma side, with prostate cancer pill Zytiga getting expanded approval, and canagliflozin — an experimental drug for type 2 diabetes — showing promise. And its consumer health side still creates steady revenue via Band-Aid, Tylenol and Johnson’s baby products. In other words, even if you don’t see breakneck growth in JNJ, there’s plenty keeping shares — and the nice yield — afloat.